William anderson



BEST AVAILABLE COPY (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. ANDERSON. MOUNTING POR HEAVY ORDNANGE. No. 439,570. Patented Oct. 28, 1890.

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W. ANDERSON. MOUNTING POR HEAVY ORDNANGE.

No. 439,570. Patented ont. 28, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\V1LLIAM ANDERSON, OF VVESTMINSTER, ENGLAND.

MOUNTING FOR HEAVY ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,570, dated October 28, 1890,

Application filed July 10, 1889. Serial No. 317,001. (No model.)

To all whoml t may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM ANDERSON, engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at 3 Whitehall Place, in the city of Westminster, England, have invented a .Disappearing-Gun Mounting, of which the following is a specification.

.This invention has for its object a disappearing-gun mounting which is sufficiently portable to be moved from place to place along a railway.

It consist-s of a ring-frame on which is a 1oller-track,and on the under side of the rollertrack there are brackets resting upon the axles of wheels, which support the structure and can convey it along a railroad when it is required to move from place to place. Between the wheels, below the roller-track and parallel with the rails, a hydraulic storage-cylinder is carried in a horizontal position. The storage-cylinder contains a piston, and also steel springs. When the gun recoils, liquid is driven, as hereinafter explained, into the Storage-cylinder, driving in the piston against the resistance of the springs. The compressed springs when released return the gun to the original position. The storage-cylinder is not attached to the ring-frame, but to au upper frame which rests upon a ring of rollers running upon the roller-track, and the parts which connect the storage-cylinder below the ring-frame with the frame above it pass through the central opening in the ring-frame. The upper frame at its fore part carries a horizontal axis on which are two lever-arms. The trunnion-bearings are at the upper ends of these arms, and the gun is carried by them. The arms are supported in approximately an upright position by a ram working in a hydraulic cylinder called the recoitcylinfleiz The ram is hollow, audaconnecting-rod passes from a cross-bar attached to the arms, at a short distance above t-he axis to the inner end of the ram, so when the gun recoils the ram is driven in and liquid is displaced from the recoil-cylinder and is received into the storagecylinder. Behind the trunuions the gun is connected by other arms with toothed racks, which can be raised and lowered by gearing upon the upper frame, and so the requisite elevation is given to the gun. In the passage between the recoil-cylinder and the storagecylinder there is a loaded valve, which offers a certain resistance to the passage of the liquid and so controls the recoil, and this valve also prevents the immediate return of the liquid from the storage-cylinder. Vhen it is desired to raise the gun to the ring position, the valve can be lifted from its seat by turning a handle provided for the purpose.

Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of a gun-mounting in accordance with my invention. The gun is in the firing position. Fig. 2 is a plan. rlhe gun is in the position it assumes on recoil.

a a are th'e rails upon which the gun-.mounting (which is semi-portable) stands.

l) b are Wheels standing on the rails aand supporting the under or ring trame c.

c is a roller-track upon the ring-frame.

CZ cl are rollers. Their axes are set radially and held in a light frame cousistingfot two hoops, one on the outer and the other on the inner side of the rollers.

e is an upperframe resting upon the rollers d.

f is a storage-cylinder. Itis connected with the upper frame e by connecting parts c passing down through the center of the ring- 'frame c.

f is the piston in the storagecylinder, and f2 f2 are the springs.

g g are lever-arms. They are mounted upon an axis g', carried by the upper frame c.

7L is the gun, which the lever-arms g carry by its trunnions.

i 'L' are other arms supporting the gun at its breech end. They are jointed to a ring upon it and descend to toothed racks 7c 7a, to which they are also jointed. The racks are held in guides, in which they are movable longitudinally, and they engage with pinions,

which (through intermediate gear, as shown) can be turned by means of the hand-whcel Z. The axes or the hand-wheel and gearing are carried in bearings upon the frame c.

m is the recoil-cylinder. It is ixed ou the frame c, and in it a ram u works.

o is a connecting-rod jointed to the leverarms g, aud also to the inner end of the hollow ram.

p is a pipe connecting the recoil-cylinder with the storage-cylinder.

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q is a spring-loaded valve in the pipe 1J, which opens to allow liquid to pass into the storage-cylinder, but closes against return.

r is a screw-spindle with a handle 7",which when turned serves to lift the Valve from its seat; or in place of lifting this Valve a bypass may be opened.

s is a buffer, which receives the breech end of the gun when it descends.

t is a. hand-wheel turning` a pinion t', which gears into teeth on the frame carrying the rollers d. By turning the wheel t the gun is trained in aiming.

u is a shield over the gun, supported by pillars from the frame e.

What I claim isl. The combination, in adisappearing-gun mounting, of a ring-frame, wheels on which said frameis supported, a roller-track on said frame, an upper frame supported on said track, a horizontal storage-cylinder containing liquid, a piston and springs arranged beneath the ring-frame, the connections e', extending through the ring-frame and securing the storage-cylinder to the upper frame, the gun, lever-arms mounted on the vupper frame in which the gun is supported, the recoil-cylinder and piston connected with said arms, and

connections or passages between the recoilcylinder and the storage-cylinder.

2. The combination, in a disappearing-gun mounting, of a ring-frame mounted on Wheels and with a roller-track upon it, an upper frame supported on the roller-track, a horizontally-arranged storage-cylindercontaining liquid, also a piston and springs arranged below the ring-frame, connections between the storage-cylinder and the upper frame, leverarms mounted on the upper frame, the gun supported thereby, other arms connecting the gnu with the upper frame, elevating-gear for adjusting these arms, a recoil-cylinder fixed to the upper frame, a hollow ram working in the recoil-cylinder, a rod connecting the leverarms wit-h the inner end of the hollow ram, a pipe connecting the recoil-cylinder with the storage-cylinder, and an automatic non-recoil Valve in connection with this pipe preventing the immediate return of liquid from the storage-cylinderaf ter recoil, but not preventing its being passed back in order to again raise t-he gun.

XVILLIAM ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

I. E. COMPTON BRACEBRIDGE, J. M. HAMILTON. 

